


Paranoia's Revenge

by Prinssess61



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders as Paranoia, Im terrible with Tagging, In the Beginning, Sword Fighting, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Unsympathetic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Violence, a little roceit too, major angst, this is loaded with angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:33:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23462497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prinssess61/pseuds/Prinssess61
Summary: Something goes wrong and Paranoia makes his return. Friendships are tested. Loyalties are tried. Love is confessed. Relationships are doubted.(I suck at summaries, but this is what you're getting)
Kudos: 29





	Paranoia's Revenge

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warnings: violence (no blood), kidnapping, mind control, nightmare (sort of), death threats, death mention, let me know if I should add anything
> 
> (There is an alternate ending that I wrote for April fools and the trigger warnings for that part are: suic*de, suffocation, major character death)

Virgil screamed and objects in the room went flying in every direction, breaking windows and damaging walls. He would get his revenge. Even if it meant damaging his so-called friends. Even if it meant waiting 20 years. Even if it meant destroying Thomas in the process.

He looked in his mirror and was mildly surprised. His appearance had changed, a lot actually. Good. He didn't want to be associated with the old him. He would embrace being Paranoia.

He now had 8 eyes and eye shadow going down from each in straight lines. His eyes were all a deep shade of purple that held a dangerous glint in them and the whites of half of his eyes were now pitch black. His hair was completely black, like an endless void of absolute nothing, and there were 8 spider legs coming from his back.

Virgil suddenly felt something weird. It felt good, but he couldn't quite tell what it was. Then it clicked. Now that he was the only one in the Dark Side, all the power it generated went to him. Normally with the power being split between 3 sides, it wasn't good for much. But now... He raised his hands, a purple flame appearing above one and purple lightning crackling in the other, as he laughed.

This was going to be so much fun.

~~~~~~

"Hey, Patton! Have you seen Remus?" Roman called.

"No. Did he not show up for your sparring match?"

"No. There have been a few times that he's been late, but it's been half an hour. I'm kind of getting a little worried."

"Maybe Dee will know where he is," Patton suggested.

"Oh, yeah! Thanks, Pat!"

Roman knocked on Deceit's door and the lying side almost immediately opened the door. His eyebrows were furrowed and he had confusion and worry written all over his face. He looked up and stiffened. Roman noticed he had a paper in his hand that he quickly hid behind his back.

"Hello, Roman. Is there something you need?"

Roman eyed him suspiciously. "Yeah. Do you know where Remus is? He didn't show up for our sparring match."

Deceit looked down as he answered with a quick, "No." He tried to close the door, but Roman shoved it back open.

"You know where he is. Did something bad happen? Does this have to do with that paper?" Deceit tensed and Roman had his answer.

Roman quickly snatched the paper from Deceit and read it. Tears welled in his eyes.

_If you ever want your darling Remus back, come to our spot. If not, well... Thomas doesn't need 2 Creativities anyways. And come alone._

_\- Your dear sweet Paranoia_

Roman just got his brother back. And now he might lose him forever? No. He was getting Remus back.

"Dee, I'm going to get Remus. You stay here."

"Roman!" Deceit hissed grabbing his arm. "I'm _not_ the one who is supposed to go. And I'm _not_ going alone."

"No, Dee. I'm not going to lose you too. I can't."

"You're _not_ going to have to deal with it then. I'm _not_ going," Deceit said resolutely.

"Fine. But I'm going with you. And I'm only letting you come along because I don't know where exactly you're supposed to meet."

They set off into the Imagination and traveled to Remus's side. They came to a big clearing that was full of dark purple flowers. Roman stayed out of sight, but kept an eye on Deceit as he walked further into the clearing.

"Virgil! Where is Remus?" Deceit yelled, turning in a slow circle.

A dark chuckle was heard from the trees and it echoed all around the clearing. Virgil walked out of the shadows proudly showing off his new look.

"That's Paranoia to you, Deceit," he spat. "And I thought I told you to come alone."

Deceit froze but quickly shook it off. "I _didn't_ come alone," he said.

Paranoia chuckled once more. "Being honest Deceit? Not really your style. And I was just looking for a snake... but a prince would be a nice addition."

Paranoia looked right at Roman through the darkness with his eerie purple eyes. "Aww. Do you not want to play with us, little prince?" He taunted. Roman ran out into the clearing and stood beside Deceit.

"Enough of your games. Where is Remus?" Roman demanded.

"You want your brother back? Fine, but it will come at a price." Paranoia turned towards the forest behind him and called out, "Remus, it's play time!"

In an instant Remus was right beside Paranoia. But something was wrong. His head was tilted forward slightly and his arms were simply hanging. Paranoia snapped and Remus's head snapped up as well. He had a large grin on his face and his left eye was completely white, while his right eye was completely black.

"Remus? Is that you?" Roman said softly.

Paranoia scoffed. "Of course it's him. He's just... being guided in the right direction."

Deceit actually hissed at that. Roman pulled out his sword and held it out towards Paranoia, who just chuckled. He snapped again and Remus had a mace in one hand and a sword in the other.

"Remus. Why don't you make up for that sparring match you missed? I'm sure the prince won't mind."

Paranoia smirked as Remus lunged at Roman. Remus attacked and Roman dodged countless times, but he would never strike his brother. But Roman could tell he was slowly losing energy, while Remus seemed to never stop.

Deceit kept trying to intervene, but Paranoia held him back as he simply watched. It didn't help that Roman was at a serious disadvantage since Remus had two weapons and Roman only had one. Then Roman took a wrong step and lost his balance.

Remus took the opportunity and brought down his mace on Roman's sword, shattering it into a million pieces, while Roman fell to the ground. Remus threw his sword to the side and lifted the mace up. He was about to bring it down when he just froze in place.

It was then that Roman registered the snap. "That's enough, Remus. We want our prince still alive. Otherwise he's useless. Bring him to me."

Remus let the mace fall from his grip as he pulled Roman up and dragged him to Paranoia, who was holding Deceit in a tight grip.

Roman' eyes went wide and he cried, "Please! V- Paranoia! Let him go! Please!"

Paranoia grinned. "Wow, little prince. Already begging? That took less work than I thought. But I think I'm inclined to say no." He turned to face Deceit and put his hand under his chin and lifted his head up. He looked straight into Deceit's eyes as he said, "I wouldn't want to lose my precious snake now would I?"

"You're the only snake I see, Paranoia," Roman growled, trying to get out of Remus's grip.

Paranoia burst out laughing. "You are a feisty one when it comes to Deceit aren't you little prince?"

Deceit felt anger bubble in his chest and he quickly lifted his foot and slammed it down onto Paranoia's. He let out a shout of pain and Deceit managed to break free. He ran into the forest, whispering 3 words to Roman as he passed him. "I love you."

And then he was gone.

"Remus! After him!" Paranoia barked. Remus did as he was told and followed Deceit into the forest.

Paranoia stormed up to Roman and grabbed him harshly. He created a string of lightning and wrapped it around Roman's wrists. Suddenly, his connection with Remus was gone. He couldn't locate him or command him.

"I only need one Light Side anyways," he grumbled, flicking his wrist and vanishing with Roman in a puff of purple smoke.

~~~~~~

Deceit heard someone running behind him. Probably Remus. If he could knock him out, then Deceit could think about what he should do next. He ran behind a tree and grabbed a pretty thick stick. He heard Remus coming up and swung the stick and hit Remus in the back of the head as hard as he dared.

Remus crumpled to the forest floor, while Deceit dropped the stick and ran over to him. He sighed of relief when Remus groaned. Remus opened his eyes.

"Where 'm I?" He looked around and suddenly shot up straight. "Virgil!"

"Hey. Hey. Remus. Calm down. It's me, Deceit. We're in the Imagination. We're safe. Virgil was controlling you so I had to hit you with a big stick." Remus laughed a little. Usually he was the one hitting someone else.

They made their way back to Roman and Remus's room. Deceit told Remus what had happened, only leaving out a few details, which included Virgil getting Roman. He said that Remus had started fighting Deceit instead of Roman.

Once they were back in the twins' now shared room, Remus asked, "Where is Roman? I thought he would be here."

"He must be in the living room,” Deceit responded, trying to buy himself time to think of a plausible lie.

They went to the living room, only just now seeing their injuries with enough light. However, Roman wasn't there either.

"Where's Roman?" Remus looked at Deceit who didn't answer. "Dee. Where is Roman?"

Deceit's silence was his answer. "I have to go back!"

"No, Remus! We can't go back! We can't!" Deceit yelled. "He's gone now. We just have to accept that."

~~~~~~

Roman woke up in an empty room. There were only 4 dark grey walls, not even a door. He tried to pull his hands apart, but a shock was sent through his body. Oh, that's right. The lightning rope.

Suddenly Paranoia appeared and Roman jumped.

"Glad to see your finally awake, prince."

"Where am I? What do you want?"

Paranoia laughed. "I thought what I want would be obvious. I guess someone like you would never be able to figure anything out. I want revenge, little prince. For everything ever done to me. As for where you are... well, that isn't important, because no one will ever find you. Although, it's not like they care enough to bother with you."

"That's not true! They love me!"

"Are you sure? Then why haven't they come looking for you? Why did your darling snake run away when he could've saved you instead?"

"No, no, no. I know what you're doing! You're trying to get in my head! I won't let you! They love me! He loves me!"

"Sure he said he loved you... but was that really the truth? He _is_ Deceit. He lies all the time. He was just lying to you to make you feel better. He doesn't actually care about you. _No one does._ "

Roman felt tears coming down his face. Did anyone actually care about him? Were they all just pretending to make him feel better about himself?

Paranoia smirked. This prince would be a lot easier to deal with than he thought.

"You just think things over and I'll come back later, little prince." And with that, Paranoia was gone and Roman was left with his doubting thoughts. Would anyone actually care enough to try and find him?

~~~~~~

"Logan!" Thomas summoned the logical side, who was in his room reading.

"Do you require my assistance Thomas?" Logan asked, not looking up from his book.

"Uh. Yeah. I need you to make sure there is no one watching outside. Y'know since other people can't see you."

Logan was confused. He looked up about to speak, but quickly shut his mouth at the sight before him.

Thomas was sitting on the couch, knees against his chest and he was hugging a pillow. He had bags under his eyes and he was rocking back and forth as he trembled a bit too. He was wearing a hoodie and had the hood up and his breathing was a bit hurried.

"Thomas, what is wrong?" Logan said standing a few feet in front of him.

"Feel like I'm being watched," he replied, shrugging his tense shoulders.

Logan went to the window and looked out. There was nothing. "Thomas, there is no one watching you. Why did you call on me and not Roman?"

"I tried. Roman's not answering."

That was odd. "Patton! Can you come up here please?" Logan called.

Patton rose up in his usual spot, but quickly moved to sit beside Thomas who flinched at another's presence so close to him.

"What happened?" Patton asked.

"I am not certain. This is highly unusual."

"Wait. Roman came looking for Remus earlier this morning. He was late and Roman went to find him and I haven't seen either since. Could that have something to do with this?"

"Thomas has relayed to me that he tried calling Roman earlier, but he would not answer. Something is very wrong. We must check on the others."

Logan sank out, leaving Patton with Thomas. He rose up in the living room where Remus and Deceit were sitting on the couch... but, both were crying.

"Deceit, Remus. What happened?"

"Roman and- Vi- Paranoia. Gone," Deceit stuttered out, though his tears were slowing down.

"Did you say Paranoia?" That would explain Thomas's behavior. But how were they going to get Roman back, assuming that he was interpreting correctly that Paranoia had taken Roman captive. "Deceit. I need you to tell me what happened."

"R-roman. Paranoia. G-gone," he repeated, looking up at Logan with dull, puffy eyes.

Logan turned to Remus. "Remus, do you know what occurred?" Remus looked at him as the tears flowed freely.

"G-gone, for-rever," Remus said, curling into a position similar to Thomas, just without the pillow.

Well, they weren't going to be of assistance. Thankfully, Patton came back to the mindscape.

"Patton. Paranoia has Roman," he said.

"W-what? Paranoia?" Patton's eyes widened. "How are we gonna get Roman back? There's no wa-"

"Patton," Logan said calmly. "We are going to get him back," he said loud enough for Deceit and Remus to hear too.

Patton nodded and started dragging Logan to Roman's room. "Dee, Remus, we're going to save Roman. We'll be back as soon as we can," he said, desperately trying to hide the shaking in his voice.

Logan and Patton stepped through to the Imagination. They were going to find Roman, no matter the cost.

~~~~~~

Roman awoke to a strange noise. He looked around but didn't see anything. He had been in the same room, with nothing to do but stare at the wall and think about the others, for so long.

He heard a chuckle from behind him and he tensed. No matter how long he was here he would never get used to that laugh. It chilled him to his very core. It sent shivers up his spine.

"Wakey, wakey, little prince. It seems we have a new play date to attend."

"What do you mean?" Roman demanded, surprised to be able to move his hands. Paranoia had removed the lightning bonds.

Roman tested his luck and stood up slowly. Nothing happened so he turned around. There was Paranoia, grinning evilly at him. Roman couldn't help the shudder that came from that stare.

"What I mean... is we are going to have some fun. Well... I'm going to have fun. You? Well, probably not so much."

The noise that Roman had woken up to hadn't stopped and it seemed to be getting louder. It was starting to ring in his ears. He brought a hand up to his temple and felt a bump. It was in the vague shape of a spider.

Roman started swaying as the ringing only grew louder. He looked over to Paranoia and saw him smirking at Roman. He suddenly snapped and Roman's world went black.

~~~~~~

Logan and Patton wandered around the forest aimlessly. They didn't even know where to start. They reached a stream and stopped. Patton looked around, occasionally jumping at shadows.

Suddenly the stream was gone. The forest around them turned into a large clearing. Roman was standing in the middle of it, looking around nervously.

"Roman!" Patton exclaimed, running to give him a hug. Before Logan could do anything to stop him, he threw his arms around a surprised Roman and squeezed him, as if he would disappear if he let go.

"Patton. That is not a wise idea! We have no way of knowing if that is truly Roman," Logan said prying him away. Patton took a few steps back.

"Oh, that is Roman alright," Paranoia said, appearing from shadows. He looked at Roman, smirked confidently, and then looked at Logan. "The one and only prince, too focused on himself and making himself feel better to see that everyone around him is in pain. The prince who can't admit his own mistakes even if it kills him."

"That's not true!" Patton shouted.

Paranoia only laughed. "And how would you know about truth? You are the one constantly lying to yourself and others about your feelings."

"Virgil! Stop this, right now," Logan said.

Paranoia snapped his head towards Logan. "Virgil is dead! I am Paranoia! And you are no better. Pretending to be better than you are. Pretending to know everything. You claim to have so much knowledge, but you can't even figure out your own emotions."

Paranoia took a few steps back and waved his hand. A dark purple fire burned in a circle around Roman and Logan. He raised his other hand, palm up with a small shadow dancing above it. He blew the shadow towards Patton and it grew until it surrounded him completely.

"Roman, be a good prince and snuff out the light." Roman looked to the ground as a black sword appeared in his hand and a blue sword appeared in Logan's.

"I'm sorry Logan. I really am."

Roman held up his sword as he walked towards Logan. He swung it at Logan, who blocked it with ease. Logan was now very thankful that Roman had taught him to use a sword. Roman struck again and Logan blocked once more.

Logan thrusted his sword towards Roman, who sidestepped to dodge. They continued to fight, but Logan was struggling to keep his footing right. Roman had said that footing was quite important when sword-fighting and Logan did not want to lose this fight, but he did not want to win either. This was one battle Logan desperately did not want to fight at all.

They kept at it and Logan noticed the circle of fire around them was slowly getting smaller.

"Roman, why are you doing this? You are not under his control. You are doing this of your own free will. Why?" Logan asked, panting a little.

"He may not be controlling me, but who said anything about my own free will?"

"What?"

"Temple," was all Roman said. Logan was confused, but he looked at Roman's temple and saw a mark. It was a spider. Paranoia put that there. "It makes me hear some kind of noise. Too much will knock me out. Just the right amount and it feels like my body is trying to kill itself from the inside out."

Roman inhaled sharply, faltering with his next move bringing a hand up to his head. Logan could've knocked him down, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Such a shame," Paranoia spoke up. "And here I thought you would do the smart thing, Logan. Guess you will both die by the flame." The fire around both of them started coming closer and closer, until they were back to back.

The fire got hotter as it came closer and then they heard a scream.

~~~~~~

Patton held his breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and covered his face with his arms as the shadow engulfed him. Suddenly, it was quiet. Too quiet. There were no sounds at all.

He slowly opened his eyes and gasped. He was at a small park, the one Thomas used to go to when he was a child. He saw Thomas, only about 7 years old, sitting on a swing with his head hung. Patton walked over to Thomas and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Thomas looked up and stared at Patton with red, puffy eyes. He rushed into Patton and hugged him. Patton was surprised, but wrapped his arms around him.

Suddenly, Thomas said something, but Patton couldn't tell what he said. Thomas and the park faded away, only to be replaced by a class room. There were 3rd graders sitting at the desks, writing away on paper. One of them looked up at Patton, and it was Thomas. He had a fake smile plastered on his face, trying to hide all his emotions. Thomas said something, and Patton faintly heard, "fail."

This setting faded away as well, this time replaced by Thomas's room. He was sitting at his desk. He looked about 14 here. He was furiously writing at something, occasionally ripping a paper out of a notebook and throwing it towards the trash can. He turned in his chair and with anger on his face he said something. This time Patton only heard, "you."

A new place appeared. Thomas was sitting in his current living room, rubbing his forehead. He looked only a few years younger than he was now. He looked up and put on a fake smile as Joan came down the stairs. They went out the door and Thomas dropped the smile. He glared at Patton and the words that he had been repeating this whole time were clear now. "You failed."

Patton shook his head. No, he hadn't failed. He did his job! He did what he was supposed to! His head started pounding and Patton got a little dizzy. The pain in his head increased and he screamed.

~~~~~~

Deceit and Remus raced through the forest on the horses Remus had conjured. Patton and Logan hadn't come back yet, and they didn't want to lose anymore friends. They were almost to the clearing when they heard a scream. They pushed the horses to go faster.

They arrived as the fire was a few feet away from Logan and Roman, and Patton was on the ground, eyes glowing purple.

"Well, well, well. Unexpected guests! Welcome! Would you like to choose how you die or would you like me to?"

"Let them go," Deceit ordered, voice shaking a bit.

"So you're giving orders now? Alright. Choose who you want to save. You only get one! So don't waste your chance," Paranoia purred.

Deceit looked between them. He couldn't choose between them! Thomas needed them all! Without Logic, Thomas wouldn't be able to function properly. Without Creativity, he wouldn't be able to do his job. Without Morality, he wouldn't be able to do the right thing. It was a lose-lose situation... unless.

Deceit looked at Remus, who was no doubt wanting Deceit to choose Roman, and then back at Paranoia.

"Clock is ticking!"

Deceit took a deep breath. "You."

"What?" Remus and Paranoia said at the same time.

"I choose to save you."

Paranoia laughed. "Wrong choice."

Deceit smirked at him as he snapped, but nothing happened. "What th- What's happening?"

"We _didn't_ used to be Dark Sides. We _can't_ use that power too. I'll admit, I _did_ think of this earlier, but now we _can't_ finally be a family again."

Paranoia growled, but instantly groaned and clutched at his head. "What did you do?"

Deceit smiled. "The right thing."

Paranoia screamed as tears started coming down. The fire that was surrounding Logan and Roman died out and Patton was brought out of his nightmare state.

Remus took back some of the power that Paranoia had stolen as well. Paranoia stumbled and the spider legs that he had gained, disappeared, along with the extra eyes.

Paranoia. No. Anxiety fell to the ground and slowly looked up. Tears were still coming down his face. He looked around and his eyes widened.

"What did I do? I ruined everything! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Deceit walked over and lifted his chin up. "It's alright. We forgive you. We love you, Virgil."

Virgil flung himself at Deceit, hugging him and muttering apologies.

"Let's _not_ go home. I _don't_ need a family movie night," Deceit declared.

The others all agreed. Deceit just barely saw a tiny nod from Virgil. It would take some time, but things would go back to normal. Well, as long as normal was watching movies every night together.

Bonus: April Fools version. Starts after Roman was taken. Trigger warnings!: suic*de, suffocation, dagger, major character death

Paranoia appeared again this time with a dagger. Roman couldn't tell how long it had been. Had it just been a few hours? A few weeks? Roman didn't care. He only had a blank face as he thought about how nobody had come for him.

"Lost hope, little prince? Good. Your 'friends' haven't even thought about saving you. In fact they're happier without you." Paranoia set the dagger on the floor and waved his hand making the lightning that was around Roman's wrists disappear.

"I'll see you soon, little prince." Paranoia glanced at the dagger, "Or not. Who knows?"

He disappeared from the room leaving Roman alone again. He eyed the dagger. Everything would be so much better if he wasn't there anymore. The others would be relieved they didn't have to pretend to want him around.

He stood up and walked over to the dagger and picked it up. He looked over it and then held it to his chest. _I love you Dee, even if you don't love me._

He shoved the dagger into his chest with a cry of pain and he fell to the floor. After a few minutes of heavy breathing and hazy vision, he took one last breath and his eyes became lifeless.

~~~~~~

Patton walked through the forest searching for any sign of Roman. He had been missing for a week and Deceit and Remus couldn't say anything. They just stared blankly at a wall. 

He heard something clink underneath his foot and he looked down. That was Roman's sword, but it was shattered. That wasn't good.

Patton looked around until he heard a villainous laugh. "Virgil is that you?" Patton called out.

"Not quite," a cold voice said behind him. Patton whirled around and saw Paranoia standing there. Then in an instant Patton's hand was raised to his throat. He didn't have control and now he was choking himself. He tried to pull his hand away but he couldn't.

Paranoia let out a dark chuckle, a murderous look in his eyes. "What do you think would happen if Thomas didn't have any morality?" Patton's eyes widened and Paranoia continued. "I think we should find out."

Paranoia clenched his fist and Patton's grip grew stronger. Suddenly he felt dizzy and he was gasping for air. Then the next moment he fell to the ground, but his hand wasn’t loosening. After a few minutes, Patton’s hand went limp and he wasn’t breathing.

"Two down. Three to go."


End file.
